It wasn’t long ago that Brian Hoyer, a youthful, excited Browns fan, stood in a line for an autograph from Ozzie Newsome like the line waiting to see him the night of March 3 at the Cleveland Auto Show.
Hoyer, former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar and current Browns head coach Mike Pettine sat at a table in the IX Center for 90 minutes signing calendars, pictures, jerseys — anything with Browns on it and some things that did not have “Browns” on it.
Hoyer, 28, grew up in North Olmsted and graduated from St. Ignatius High School. A year ago at this time he was on the roster of the Arizona Cardinals. His future was murky. The Cardinals waived him on May 13 and four days later the Browns signed him as a free agent.
The Browns won four games in 2013 and Hoyer started two of them — three really, but he was injured midway through the first quarter of the game against the Bills.
He gets credit for winning the game, even though the Browns were behind, 7-0, when his right ACL was torn.
“I don’t know if I ever did Bernie,” Hoyer said. “I know I did Ozzie and I know I did Jim Brown. I still have the Jim Brown helmet at home. It’s a little beat up.
“I literally was in their shoes. I stood in line and waited for Browns’ autographs. It’s kind of cool. It kind of comes full circle. I’ve said it before; I feel so thankful to be a part of this organization and have a chance to alter its outcome as a million fans out there would like to do. I’m one of those guys that gets to do it.”
For now, Hoyer is the Browns starting quarterback. How long that might be could depend on what happens in the draft and how quickly a rookie quarterback is pressed into starting.
Hoyer knows the score, but he is persevering in his rehab from knee surgery to the point where he says he isn’t rehabbing anymore. He’s working out. He is running five days a week, lifting three days a week and throwing to trainers as stationary targets three days a week. Recently he drove to the University of Akron to take advantage of their spacious indoor facility and threw passes to Cecil Shorts III, a wide receiver from the Jacksonville Jaguars and a product of Mount Union.
“It was good to throw to a moving target and an NFL caliber receiver,” Hoyer said. “I’m going to try to hook up with some of the other guys. Maybe we can find somewhere inside to throw. It’s going well.”
Rules in the collective bargaining agreement prohibit players from working out formally until the offseason program begins on April 7.
Hoyer and new coach Mike Pettine see each other daily at Browns headquarters in Berea. They can talk about family, dogs, the weather, the Oscars, the Indians — but talking football is forbidden.
Coincidentally, Pettine was the defensive coordinator for the opposition when Hoyer was injured playing against the Bills on Oct. 3. There is not much game tape on Hoyer, who made only four career starts in five years, but Pettine likes what he has seen.
“It was such a small sample size of him playing,” Pettine said at the Auto Show. “…But to me he flashed brilliance. He flashed that he can be a quality starter in the NFL.
“He’s proven to everybody what kind of intangibles he has, the work ethic. He’s in the building every day. He’s a gym rat, and when it comes to his rehab, that certainly applies as well.”
Hoyer is in the final year of a two-year contract.Browns skip on Manziel
Surprisingly, perhaps, the Browns did not meet formally at the combine with quarterback Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M, Pettine revealed.
“We didn’t speak to him at the combine.” Pettine said. “I didn’t personally. He was not part of the formal interviews. Not to talk about a specific guy, but as we evaluate those positions, whatever access we need to get to that player and have interaction with him, we’ll make sure we get that done.”
Teams can meet with 60 players in individual formal 15-minute meeting at the combine.Less could be more
The Browns are $56.9 million under the salary cap, but don’t expect them to go crazy at 4:01 p.m. on March 11 when free agency begins. Pettine said learned that lesson in his time in Baltimore from 2002-2008 from watching Newsome, the Ravens general manager.
“Sometimes it’s hard to say what the market will bear with a lot of players,” Pettine said. “You never want to be that team that kind of goes out there into those super big contracts on Day One.
“Having worked in Baltimore under Ozzie Newsome, it was always right player, right price. I think those two things go and-in-hand. You can find the right player, but you don’t want to overpay for him. You can have to right price, but if it’s the wrong player it doesn’t work.”
But just four minutes later, Pettine was asked about going after “a big name first-day guy.”
“I really can’t speak to that,” he said. “That’s more of a Strategic thing. But I do know given our space, all options are on the table for us
General Manager Ray Farmer has the final say in free agency.